You Promised
by TealRose320
Summary: Two young strangers meet on board the Titanic, a fiery young girl with soulful eyes, and a young man searching for his true purpose in life. Will they both provide the other what they need, and will their friendship turn into more in the wake of the Titanic's impending disaster? Feel free to R&R, please. :)


Hi Everybody! Welcome to my latest story, "You Promised!'' I'm so glad that you're here, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed creating and writing it. This story will not be a chapter story, per se, but rather, a series of one-shots. Put together, they'll explain the story better, but can be read separately as well. So, this is the first installment. I hope to have the next piece up soon. For now, please enjoy, and don't be afraid to r&r!

'' Titanic was called the ship of dreams, and maybe for some it was, but for me, it was where my dreams died away.''

April 1912

He remembered stepping onto the ship for the first time. It was the grandest ship in the world, but to him, it was like he was going to his execution. He had never felt so trapped in all his life. To make it even worse, he felt like absolutely no one had even a thought for what he wanted for his own life. It was like he was standing in the middle of a room, screaming at the top of his lungs, and no one even looked up. He tried to find some kind of solace by talking to his mother about it, but whenever he did, she wrote it off as him being ''commitment-phobic.'' Time after time, he explained that he was at that age where was ready and willing to commit to a woman and take her as lover and wife, she just had to be the RIGHT woman - not just ANY woman. After all, he was 20 years old, and more than capable of making his own decisions, so why wasn't he allowed to, then? This young man couldn't tell anyone that he wasn't allowed to live his life for himself - never had since his father died, really. He lived his life, the one that should have been his, for his surviving parent, who was only too happy it seemed, to sacrifice his own happiness for hers.

After a particularly nasty fight with Catherine, his bratty, teenage fiancée, over his ''commitment phobia,'' the young man felt the need to leave the room to get some air, with a purple bag he kept in his jacket pocket in tow. What a great thing that he did. He slowly walked to the back of the ship, and leaned against the railing, sighing heavily as he did. He tossed his head to the side, brushing his chestnut hair away from his face. If only somebody- anybody-could understand what he was going through. He felt like he was going absolutely insane with this arranged marriage, and there wasn't even anyone he could turn to to talk about it with. Never in his life had he felt so completely and utterly alone. He opened his eyes, placing his hand on the purple bag, and began to people watch on the ship down below.

There, on the deck, sat the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on before. Judging from the way she was dressed, with a simple white blouse, brown skirt, and braces, there was no way possible that she was a first class passenger, but her beauty more than made up for that. The sun shone perfectly on her dirty blonde hair, put up in a messy bun, almost looking like a halo above her head. She had a heart shaped face, with a few tendrils of hair escaping the bun and framing the bone structure of her face perfectly. To this day, this young man said that the most striking part of her - was her eyes. The most gorgeous eyes he had ever seen or would ever see in his life. They were bluish green in color, and they were eyes that looked right past who you would pretend to be, and peer into who you really were, and bring out the best in you. Her eyes weren't the windows to her soul, they were a window to yours.

He leaned over the railing a little further to get a good look at this beautiful young stranger. He loved her eyes the best, but her smile was a close second. It lit up the whole area, no, the whole ship, and infused it with the sound of her soulful, contagious laughter. She was exchanging pleasantries with another young female on the deck, who seemed to notice him staring at them. When she caught sight of him, she motioned towards the man with her eyes, causing the gorgeous stranger to look over at him too, that smile still on her face. In a fit of embarrassment, he looked away quickly from the two women, humiliated at being caught staring. After a few seconds though, he couldn't help but look back at her, he just couldn't help himself. He had never seen such a beautiful woman before - even Catherine didn't come anywhere close, though in Southampton, she was considered a great beauty. The stranger continued to look up at him, and gave a friendly wave and a smile. Most assuredly, she only meant it as a friendly smile, but to the young man, it was the most attractive, even slightly seductive smile from a woman. For a glistening second, the two just looked at each other, neither of them needing to say anything at all. It was as if they were frozen in time, and like they were long lost lovers meeting for the first time. The man leaned over the railing and was about to say something to the woman, when he felt a soft hand on his elbow. It was Catherine, with a rather sheepish look on her face.

''Darling, why did you run off like that? Come back inside - we'll have some chocolate and discuss everything.''

''But -'' he began to object, though he saw it was no use. He silently exhaled, and allowed her to pull him by the hand back indoors to the first class quarters. Before he left with her, though, he turned to get one last look at the lady stranger. She waved one last time and gave another, faint smile. Both she and her friend watched him walk off with Catherine until they were both out of sight. The friend turned to the stranger, giggling girlishly.

''Did you know that man? Who was he?'' The stranger turned to her friend briefly, then back to where she had just seen that sad man leave.

''I don't know, but I'm going to find out.''

…...

Truly, the young man couldn't have been any more bored. He stared off into space with a deep frown, while Catherine chattered on about their wedding plans to their so called friends, who were actually made up of his mother, some of Catherine's family, and friends of Catherine's father. No one he called friend. At all. He wasn't remotely interested enough to actually listen to the conversation, but he could make out a few words – with a ''swans'' here, and a ''diamonds'' there, here a ''charming,'' there an ''elegant,'' everywhere an ''expensive!''

Catherine laughed and joked with their ''friends,'' while the sad young man continued to stare off into the abyss.

''Yes,'' said Catherine, calming from her latest bough of laughs. ''It's a fine match between us. And what better place to celebrate our love than on the grandest ship in the world? We're both very lucky.'' At she, she looked at her fiancé lovingly. She placed a hand on one of his pectorals, dapperly covered in the finest evening suit. He didn't move, or even seem to notice. But Catherine did. She looked at him with a tiny hint of concern in her eyes, tilting her head.

''Don't you think so, darling?''

''Yes, of course,'' he said automatically. Had he actually heard what she said? Probably not. And Catherine knew it. This time, she looked around at all their guests at their dinner table, placing an arm around his, and leaning in to whisper in his ear.

''And I won't have you going around flirting with every woman on this ship. Don't embarrass me like you did in Paris. I am your fiancée, and you need to respect me.'' At this, the sad man turned into an agitated man, and he pulled away a bit forcefully, though still smiling at all the onlookers – probably sweet nothings, they assumed.

He sighed deeply, truly coming to for the first time since he had sat down with Catherine and all her pish posh posse. Truly..he couldn't take it anymore. Not one more second.

…...

Roughly, he ran to he back of the ship, pushing countless people out of his way. In his hand, he carried the same purple bag in his hands as before, only now, he seemed almost purposeful with the bag. He sprinted to the railing on the back of the ship, putting both hands out to catch himself as he did. A single tear stood in his eye, but he wiped it away quickly and desperately. He looked behind him now, wondering if anyone would truly miss him, or if anyone even loved him enough to miss him. Also, he looked behind him to make sure no one would see what he was about to do next. This desperate young man had come aboard the Titanic for one sole purpose – to get away from his life of misery. For far too long, his life had been lived for him, and there was never a time he felt more alone in all the world. And so, since he couldn't live the laugh he wanted, he decided that he wanted no life at all. This was his mission coming aboard the Titanic, to end it all and drift away into the sea where no one would ever find him.

From the purple bag, he pulled out a small revolver, and gazed upon it. He ran a hand over it as another tear escaped his eye, then another. He felt the cold chill of the water rush to his skin, making is lip tremble a bit. He sighed deeply, then did his best to relax his hands, which had gotten quite shaky. Slowly, he raised the gun to his temple, holding it so tightly his knuckles turned white, and his breathing was extremely shaky.

''For the life I never had,'' he whispered, as he placed his finger on the trigger. The trigger slowly pulled back, about the release the bullet…when –

''WAIT! Stop – don't! Please…. Sir?''

The man quickly turned around, surprised, shocked, and even a little embarrassed that anyone had seen him. He was sure there was no one there. How on Earth was he going to explain this?

He turned to face the inconvenient interloper. As he did, he was in for quite a shock – for when he turned, he saw the same woman stranger he had seen just a few hours ago. The one with the messy bun, and the plain clothes, and the captivating eyes. Even in his current state of mind, and though she was clearly poor, he had to admit –she was quite attractive.

''Please, don't.'' she repeated, stepping just a bit closer to him. ''I – I don't know what's bothering you, but I promise – it's really not that bad.'' She took another step closer to him, causing the man to step back in alarm.

''Get away from me!'' he shouted. ''Don't come any closer. If you do, I'll pull the trigger.''

The lady looked out to the water under the ship, rippling deeply under the rudder. After a few seconds, she looked back at the man with an emotionless look on her face.

''No you won't.'' she said flatly.

The man furrowed his brow in defiance and annoyance.

''What? What do you mean, 'no I won't?' You don't know me, how dare you presume to tell me what I will and will not do.'' At this, he turned his back away from her a bit further. The woman squinted her eyes at the man, coming just a half a step closer.

''So, you're saying, you'll do it? You'll shoot yourself in front on me?

''Yes!'' he exclaimed.

The woman sighed, looking down at the floor of the ship.

''Geez, ya know, I'd really hate to go through this again.''

Interested, Ross lowered the gun slightly and turned towards her. ''Again?''

''Yeah,'' she said, shrugging her shoulders. ''See, I grew up in Chippewa Falls, where the winters are just..awful. Hell on Earth, even – they're just so cold. Anyway, my mom got real sick and died when I was just a kid, and my old man, well, he didn't handle it so well. See, he believed in soul mates and all that, and he thought my mom was his. Anyway, one night, he sent me into the house to go play, while he was outside in the yard. I snuck outside to catch snowflakes on my tongue, and ended up watching my old man blowing his own brains out. Blam.'' She demonstrated with her hand.

''That's awful,'' the man said, lowering the gun about halfway now.

''Yeah, watching your own father just..blow a hole through his own brain is not something you ever really recover from. There was blood in the snow and everything.'' She turned to him.

''And you're about to do the same thing to someone else.''

''What?'' the man demanded.

''What you're doing –you're about to put somebody through something awful. I mean, I don't know you – but – I'm sure that there are lots of people that love you. Friends, family, a wife-''

''I don't have any of those! Nobody who loves me, and nobody who will miss me.''

The woman gave him a sympathetic look. ''Sorry. But look at it this way. Maybe by you killing yourself tonight, you might keep yourself from meeting someone who's supposed to love you, someone you're supposed to find.''

He looked at her in wonder. ''You think so?'' Goodness, she looked beautiful right now, he thought.

The woman shrugged her shoulders. ''Maybe. But I know that there are people out there who know you, and will be heartbroken to receive such sad news. Come on now, why don 't you put down the gun, and we can talk about whatever is bothering you. I promise, I won't go away until you feel better.''

Ross lowered the gun, as if he were considering her offer, but didn't drop it completely.

'' And besides, this ship is so beautifully made. '' She ran a model-esque hand across the ropes on the ship. ''I'd hate to have to clean up blood from such – beautiful craftsmanship. So I guess I'm hoping that you'll – put the gun down, and kinda, let me off the hook, here.''

The man let a small smile escape his lips at the woman's words. For some reason, though this woman was a perfect stranger to him, she brought with her a calming presence, and he felt like he could trust her. And how, really, did she come to be so beautiful? Not only on the outside, but on the inside too – for though this woman didn't know him from Adam – she was trying to save him. Yes, this woman was very attractive, indeed.

''Was that a smile?'' The woman asked, a mischievous grin on her own face.

The man just looked outwards to the sea nervously, trying to hide the smile. The gun was now at this side, resting next to his thigh.

''I'll take that as a yes,'' she said, her smile fading a bit.

''Now come on, you don't want to do this. I know you don't.'' She came right next to him now, placing a hand on his arm. Her touch sent a shiver up the man's spine –but a good kind of shiver. From her single touch, he felt instantly connected to her, like he had known her all his life, and for some reason he just couldn't quite put his finger on, he felt like he was safe with her, and that he had found a true friend at last.

''At least for today, put it away.'' Her blue-green eyes were soft and warm as she said this, and the man just knew that genuine care resided behind those eyes.

With a big gulp and a small sigh, he placed the gun back in the bag, slipping it back into the pocket of his coat.

''That's a good boy,'' the woman said, looking at him directly for the first time. At that moment, the two shared another glistening second of just staring at each other, and sharing a connection that felt like had always been there. The lady broke the spell with a slightly nervous laugh, and moving a small tendril of hair away from her face.

''By the way, I'm Jack. Jack Dawson.''

''Jack?'' the man chuckled. ''Well really, that's an unusual name for a girl –er, woman.''

''Well, actually, it's Jacqueline, but everybody calls me Jack. You can too.''

The man continued to laugh while shaking his head. Jack however gave him a feisty look, warning him not to ''go there.'' She motioned toward him with her arm.

''And you are?''

The man stopped chuckling and cleared his throat, straightening himself up.

''Oh, I'm sorry, permit me. I'm Ross Dewitt Bukater.''

Now it was Jack's turn to giggle. ''I'll have to get you to write that one down for me.''

This time, Ross laughed out loud. Jack looked at him in surprise. ''What a cute laugh. You should laugh more.''

Ross slightly blushed at the compliment. ''I'll work on it, '' he said with a flirty smile. He moved closer to her again as he said this.

''Good,'' Jack smiled back, returning his gesture of moving forward. By now, their faces were mere inches from each other, and they could have easily kissed. As much as Ross wanted to kiss Jack, he knew he shouldn't. And, as much as Jack wanted to kiss Ross, she didn't know him, and for all she knew, he could be a murderer or something. Jack's instincts, for now, told her to pull back ever so slightly. While she did not move, she eyed the purple sack in his hand.

''In the meantime, why don't you give the gun to me?''

Ross turned his eyed to the side, his intense gaze never leaving her.

''Why? What are you going to do with it? Surely you're not going to use it?''

''Of course not!'' Jack giggled at this. ''I'm gonna throw it in the ocean! Now come on –'' she reached towards Ross' waist for the gun.

''Now wait a minute,'' 'Ross said, moving backwards. ''You can't do that. This gun was very expensive, and besides –it belonged to my father. ''

''I don't care, it's served its purpose. I'm not gonna let you try this again the next time you get sad. From now on, if you wanna kill yourself, you're gonna have to get a little bit more creative. Just hand it over.''

''Miss Dawson! No!'' She kept reaching for the gun, but every time she did, Ross pulled it away and held it out somewhere else. Finally, he held it above his head, knowing at least for the time, it would be safe there. At 6'3'' he was a good five inches taller than Jack. She was actually pretty tall for a woman, at least six inches taller than Catherine. With those statistics, he just knew Jack would never be able to reach it. Wrong. Jack gave Ross a look of determination, and with one big leap, reached for the gun in his hand. The good news was that she got it from him, the bad news was that Jack jumped off with such force, that she knocked Ross over! Falling backwards, Ross grabbed one of Jack's braces to try and balance himself, but ended up pulling her down with him. They both landed on the ground, with Jack on top of Ross.

Jack burst into uproarious laughter, again filling the whole ship with her happy, infectious sound. Hearing her laugh made Ross laugh right along with her.

''My gosh, I'm so sorry. Here, help me up.''

''Why?'' Ross asked with an arched eyebrow. ''I kind of like lying in this position.'' He moved his hips to demonstrate his meaning, making them both laugh.

''WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?''

A very angry Catherine stood in front of them, both hands on her hips.

''Darling!'' Ross got up immediately, leaving Jack on the ground. Jack rolled her eyes, and lifted herself up.

''Oh no, please, don't. I 'll get up myself,'' she said under her breath.

''Ross Dewitt Bukater, I demand to know who this woman is! Who is she? Who are you?'' She looked lividly from Ross to Jack.

''I'm Jack Dawson.''

''Jack?'' Catherine said haughtily. ''Well, I suppose that's fitting. A man's name for a mannish figure and look.''

Jack tightened her jaw, and give her a look that, well, if Catherine were a piece of wood, she would have been on fire. Started a forest fire, in fact.

Ross stepped in between them. ''Yes, Miss Dawson, this is Catherine Hockley, my fiancée. ''

Catherine gave a cocky nod of her head to Jack, which Jack chose not to acknowledge. Honestly, her heart sank a little at the word 'fiancee.' Hadn't he just been flirting with her a moment ago?

''All right, but that still doesn't explain who you are, and how you know each other.'' She gave Jack a snotty once over.

''I- I don't. I just met him a few moments ago.'' She looked to him for any kind of help. He offered none. ''He needed help.''

''Help? Ha! Unlikely. And what makes you think you can put your filthy hands all over my fiancé? Acting like a common whore.''

Jack's eyes turned to Catherine with blood in them.

''I'm no whore!'' Her fists clenched up, and she was just about ready to punch out this prissy princess' lights.

Catherine pushed Ross slightly out of the way so her next venomous words would have her desired affect.

''Only a whore would try to seduce another woman's husband!''

''Seduce?'' spat Jack. ''Look, I already told, I don't even know this man – and trust me doll, he is ALL yours!''

At this point, Jack figured if he could be engaged to one woman, then openly flirt with another, then he must be a rounder of the worst sort. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Catherine turned back to Ross and put a possessive arm around his.

''Yes, he is. Come on darling, let's go.''

A look of worry crept across Ross' face, as he could now see a look of anger on Jack's. He looked from Jack to Catherine, stopping ultimately at her.

''But – sweetheart- Miss Dawson was –''

Catherine grabbed his shirt and pulled him to where he was just inches away from her face.

''I know exactly what she was doing. And I shall deal with YOU later.'' She turned to Jack. ''And as for you, if I ever see you anywhere near my fiancée again, I'll make your life a living hell.''

Jack wasn't threatened in the least.

''What, like you're doing to him?'' she said, gesturing her head towards Ross. ''Do your worst.''

Catherine's only response was an audible huff as she stormed off, motioning for Ross to come with. He looked after her, but he stayed behind where Jack was.

''Well, Miss Dawson, I –''

''Better join your lady,'' Jack finished for him. Again Ross looked to her, now walking slowly away.

''Ah, well yes, I suppose I should.''

''Yeah,'' Jack said with a self-satisfied smirk on her face. ''Looks like you've got a real winner there.'' Her eyes moved from Catherine to Ross. Those eyes really did seem more captivating by the second.

Ross chuckled lightly at the comment. ''You mustn't mind Catherine. She's normally not like that, she just gets a bit –jealous at times.''

''I simply don't know what you mean,'' Jack said, feigning ignorance. ''I thought she was –quite charming.''

Ross laughed out loud again. This Jack really slayed him with her sense of humor. Again, they were interrupted by the shrill sound of ''Ross!'' as Catherine called back to him. Ross looked back to her, as Jack gestured with her arm that he should go. Ross turned and began to walk to Catherine, but turned back and said, '' Goodnight, Miss Dawson''

Jack softly smiled. ''Goodnight, Mr. De- De-…. Mr. First Class.''

A final little laugh escaped his lips as he turned around again and went to catch up with Catherine as best becomes a gentleman. That didn't stop him however, from taking one last look at Jack, who was shaking her head at the whole episode that just happened. Even now, he was simply taken aback by her beauty.

''Wow,'' he whispered to himself, an impish smile on his face.

Jack stood there for a moment in silence, taking in everything that had just happened. All that drama, and all because she was simply trying to help someone. Still though, she could see the humor in the situation. She smiled, looked downward, and shook her head.

''Wow,'' Jack said, laughing.


End file.
